Republican leaders lashed out at the Democrats’ effort at a press conference Friday, a day before the Senate prepares to begin consideration of the plan, targeting Sens. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.). ), two key central states, to support the effort. “So what’s vote-a-rama going to be like?” Sen. Lindsey Graham (RS.C) told reporters Friday, referring to the marathon vote senators are set to take in the coming days as part of the process Democrats are using to pass the bill. “It would be like hell.” “They deserve this. As much as I admire Joe Manchin and Sinema for standing up to the radical left at times, they are promoting legislation that will make life harder for the average person,” Graham said. Graham, along with Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), also threatened not to vote on a critical funding measure before a September deadline, when state funding is set to expire, for the effort. Democrats are using a complicated process known as fiscal reconciliation to try to pass the party’s inflation-reduction law, a massive package that would advance key pieces of President Biden’s legislative agenda. The process, which Republicans used to pass former President Trump’s signature tax law in 2017, would allow Democrats to pass a bill in the Senate 50-50 with a simple majority, bypassing the usual 60-vote threshold. But for the bill to pass using the maneuver, Democrats have to jump through a series of hoops before bringing the bill to the floor for a vote. This includes what’s known as a vote-a-rama — an often long and messy voting marathon in which senators can offer a series of amendments for a chance to influence legislation before a final vote on the overall bill. Republicans have been strategizing in recent days on how to make Democrats feel as much pain as possible during the upcoming vote, promising to line up tough votes for the party that could be used as ammunition for the upcoming election season. During a recent news conference, Sen. John Barrasso (Wyo.), a member of the Republican leadership, said the GOP would focus specifically on areas such as “energy, inflation, the border and crime.” Many Republicans are keeping their cards close to the vest about the amendments they plan to push through during the marathon vote. Pressed by The Hill on Thursday about which one he would offer, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) declined to reveal, saying he wants “it to be a surprise.” “My colleagues will all have plenty of time to read my amendments,” Kennedy said. “But I don’t believe in leading with my chin.” Republicans have expressed hopes of attaching some of their amendments to the overall bill, despite their overwhelming opposition to the package, in case it could make the legislation tougher to pass in the House. However, there is concern among GOP members about the possibility that Democrats will introduce a “circumvention” amendment, which could allow all amendments passed during the session to be deleted. Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 9, including senior fighters. Wildfires put California’s forest offset program at risk of collapse Sen. John Thune (SD), the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, acknowledged the issue during a news conference Friday, questioning whether Manchin and Sinema would vote for such an amendment. “Because they both said they would not vote after they felt that, in the American Bailout, they voted for a comprehensive amendment and they felt like they were misled by their leadership at the time that they would never vote for either of them again. Thune said. The Hill has reached out to the offices of Manchin and Sinema for comment.
